Bill Orban

This well travelled pro played for 10 different clubs in 11 years.

Bill Orban was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1944 but lived in places like Champaign-Urbana, Illinois., Ottawa and Saskatoon as a youngster. His father Dr. Bill A. Orban Sr. worked for Canada's federal Government and was later named the dean of the University of Saskatchewan.

Bill played his junior hockey in Saskatoon for the Quakers until going to IHL and the Fort Wayne  Comets for a year (1964-65),he then spend two seasons playing for the Los Angeles Blades in the WHL winning the rookie of the year award in 1966. As the NHL expanded in 1967-68 Bill made the Chicago Blackhawks lineup and played 39 games that season. The next season he played 45 games for Chicago before being traded to Minnesota with Tom Reid for Andre Boudrias and Mike McMahon on February 14,1969. He played another 21 games for Minnesota that season.

Bill didn't crack the North Stars lineup at the start of 1969-70 season and was send to Waterloo, Iowa in the CHL. Minnesota recalled Bill on a couple of occasions and he played a total of 9 games for Minnesota that season.  That season he had his most productive campaign in his pro career and notched 75 pts in 65 games for Iowa. He was also named to the second CHL All-Star team. His 9 game stint in Minnesota was his last in the NHL. He was picked up by Chicago in the intra-league draft and was on a couple of Blackhawk training camps but never made the last cut. Bill played for Cleveland and Springfield in the AHL and Portland in the WHL the next couple of seasons.

On thanksgiving night 1972, while playing for Portland he almost suffered a career ending injury when  he was playing with a charley horse in his left leg,and recieved a severe blow to the leg. His leg got swollen but he still insisted on playing the next night against Phoenix tightly taped. The leg was hit again, this time slightly lower and Bill was out for the season,missing almost 60 games. He suffered from such a bad swelling that there was no place for the muscle to go. The muscle literally exploded causing a lot of internal bleeding.

Bill had an operation to the leg but the problem was that no calcium had formed in the leg so it took seven months before he could even skate or jog or ride a bicycle. He later only had 60 % of the normal flexibility in his left thigh.

Despite this he fought on and played another two seasons. This time in the CHL for the Tulsa Oilers and Dallas Black Hawks before retiring 31 years old in 1975. Bill was a real team player who worked as hard or harder than anybody on his teams. As a minor leaguer he was often used as a penalty killer. He was also used in powerplay situations. He was a descent two-way player who also played well in the corners. A pretty complete player although not the best skater.

Bill Orban played a total of 114 regular season NHL games (8 goals, 15 assist for 23 points) and went pointless in 3 playoff games.

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Gus Bodnar

When a rookie plays in his first game, he wants to try and do something to get himself noticed by the coach. Good hustle, smart defensive play or a big hit would all do the trick. But it would be hard to top what Gus Bodnar did in his first NHL game. On October 30, 1943 the rookie Toronto Maple Leafs center scored just 15 seconds into his first NHL game. That feat is a long standing record for the faster goal by a player in his first NHL game!

Bodnar's fast goal not only lifted his confidence, but also that of his coach's. Bodnar would go on to enjoy a spectacular first year, scoring 22 goals and 40 assists for 62 points in 50 games while capturing the Calder Trophy as the league's best newcomer.

Bodnar, who was fantastic playmaker from Fort William, Ontario, would play parts of 4 season with the Leafs, but his play would slip dramatically towards the end of his Toronto tenure. His second season he scored 44 points in 49 games, but only 8 goals. By his 4th season he spent some time in the minors. He started the 1947-48 season in the minors before being involved in one of the league's biggest trades of all time. Toronto packaged Bodnar, Gaye Stewart, Bud Poile, Ernie Dickens and Bob Goldham to Chicago for Max Bentley and Cy Thomas.

While Bentley would sparkle in Toronto and lead the Buds to 3 Stanley Cups, the Blackhawks would go into a tailspin that saw them finish near the bottom for a number of years. Bodnar was a solid center for them for almost 7 full seasons however. He would often be linemates with fellow former Leafs Stewart and Poile on the "Flying-Forts" line as all three were from the Fort William.

Bodnar's highlight of his Chicago tenure came on March 13, 1953. That night is a very well remembered in hockey circles as it is the night that Chicago's Bill Mosienko scored the fastest hat trick in history - 3 goals in just 21 seconds!. While that record is seemingly unbeatable, Gus Bodnar also set an improbable record that night as well - the fastest 3 assists in NHL history - also in 21 seconds. Bodnar set up Mosienko for all three of his well celebrated goals that night.

Bodnar was traded to Boston late in the 1954 in exchange for Jerry Topazzini. Bodnar would play one final season in Boston before retiring to become a long time junior coach.

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